Clove's Tale
by Ieathe
Summary: Clove: determined, tactical and ready for battle. Her district partner: charming, ruthless and undeniably brutal. She's been trained to fight weapons, but can she fight love? My first works on here and my tribute to the Hunger Games. Enjoy x
1. Chapter 1

From my position at the Reaping, I have a perfect view of the Justice building and therefore our district escort. I can't let myself down now. I've waited too long.

Our ridiculously dressed escort reads out the name of the tribute for District 2 – some girl called Lou – and I know that now is the time that I must act fast. Many girls of my age look eager to volunteer, but I will do it first. I have to. It will bring honour to my family. Just as the first girl walks arrogantly towards the stage, I jump in front – "I volunteer!" The escort, Bunty Hessleworth, looks relieved as I move to the stage with a victorious smile. This is the first step to winning for me.

Bunty has barely started onto the male tribute's name when a boy who I live near – Cato, I believe – strides towards the stage. I have only ever seen him stroll down my street, but up close I can safely say he is the largest human being I have ever met in my whole life. As we shake hands, we both grip on firmly to the other, determined to show strength. I will wait until we say our goodbyes to flex my hand; I think he crushed it in the process.

Inside the Justice Building (which is rather inaccurately named), I wait for my parents and brother to arrive. My father enters first and pats my shoulder. "Well done. Do us proud," he murmurs and then he is gone. We have never been much good at conversation. My mother, who is equally as large and muscular as my father, enters second. She pulls me in for a quick embrace and examines my hair, saying, "Should have put it up neater. Need to look nice for the cameras," and tuts slightly. This is as far as the relationship with my parents will ever go. My brother comes in third and we have a long, meaningful hug. He is the kindest and therefore most different of the family. He kisses my cheek and then he is gone too. I think he is the only person who will actually miss me enough to not care about bringing shame to the district. But I will win, I know it. I was born for this.

The train ride has been tedious and unimportant, with none of us talking to eachother. Bunty is remarkably silent for someone usually so loud. It's more of a snooty silence though; she probably doesn't want to mix with people from outside of the Capitol.

I am stripped of bodily hair, manicured, pedicured, and checked for headlice by strange-looking people who appear as alien to me as I do to them. My stylist, a woman with a tiny waist named Hilda, powders my cheek with gold flecks and outlines my brilliant-blue eyes with a deep, unforgiving black. My lips are painted gold and my cheekbones and jaw enhanced with a stronger, coppery-gold. I look deadly; ready to wield an axe at anybody in the room. I wear a bronze gladiators outfit equipped with an ornate Roman-style headpiece. When Cato and I meet again to step into the chariots, I see he is the same.

We glare at the other tributes menacingly, eager to set an impression at the very start. The chariots roll forward and the crowd watch greedily. We blow kisses, roaring at the crowd which welcomes an extra round of cheers. We are golden and dazzling. Until the cameras redirect to the pair from District 12. What are they wearing? I whip around and see the pair holding hands, contaminated by a flickering flame that entices all.

"Turn around," Cato hisses beside me, but he glares too.

I stare at him. "But 12 is stealing all our sponsors," I retort.

"And you're helping to lose them by focusing on them too. So turn _around_," he orders. I can only obey and smile to hide my fury. How dare they steal our crown! Well, just wait 'til we steal it right back.


	2. Chapter 2

At the Training Centre, Cato and I stand in a severe, defensive position alongside the tributes from District 1, whom I learn to be named Glimmer and Marvel. As Atala, the training instructor, drawls out the deeply uninteresting rules and advice, I notice Cato smirking at the girl from District 12. I do too and she looks more nervous.

After an hour or so of dull practise, Cato, I and the District 1 tributes sit together at lunch. We chat, laugh and mock the other tributes while they sit alone looking weak and uncomfortable. Glimmer bats her eyelids and flicks her hair flirtatiously at Cato and he accordingly responds. Marvel and I do not act so foolishly but instead form an alliance silently and look on jealously as our district partners flirt. I don't want to admit it, but I mind slightly. I quickly dismiss the thought; attraction is not a part of survival.

As we return to practise, I accidentally brush Cato's arm and look away. He barely flinches but smiles instead, casually raising an eyebrow.

I throw knives incredibly accurately and hit every single target directly in the centre. The girl from 12 – Katniss, is it? – looks on in both fear and awe. Marvel throws spears and Glimmer practises with a bow. She fails and it's all I can do not to laugh. Partly in jealousy, I guess. Cato thrashes around mightily with a dangerous-looking sword and successfully demolishes several training dummies.

On the way back in the lift to our compartments, Cato passes a ring to me. "Here," he says. "Take it. At least when one of us goes home I'll know I loved a pretty girl once." And then he exits and I am left alone.


	3. Chapter 3

The next morning, my mentor, Enobaria, a beastly young woman who has pointy teeth (cosmetically enhanced from when she ripped out another tribute's throat in her own Games), and I have a long talk about tactics. She strongly encourages the alliance between 1 and us. She also advises that I kill Cato as soon as the alliance breaks. I expect he has been told the same thing, too.

After a final goodbye to Enobaria and Brutus, Cato's district mentor – no hugs, just warnings and encouragement on emerging victorious – I enter the compartment at the lift slides up slowly,

Cato's engagement band firmly on my ringfinger.

The arena is a little fuzzy at first, but my vision soon comes into focus. I stand on a small, round pedestal in a ring of other tributes surrounding the Cornucopia. A sharp knife immediately catches my eye, and I see Cato contemplating his weapon greedily. The gong sounds, and I am off. A girl – District 3, I think – lunges in front of me for a rucksack but I kick the back of her knee so she stumbles forward. I grab a knife and slit her throat for good measure. Glimmer screams and Cato rushes to her assistance, killing her attacker in the process. I feel a pang of jealousy – why not propose to her instead? _Never mind, _I tell myself; _I can always kill him later_. Her sooner, preferably.

As the boy from District 6 leaps with a weapon in his hand, I throw a knife at his back and his cannon sounds. I can barely think over the cannons booming everywhere. And then I notice her. District 12, fallen on the grass clutching a bright orange rucksack and looking straight at me. Terrified. This is payback for stealing my sponsors. I throw a knife, aiming for her head, but she blocks it instinctively and it wedges in her rucksack. She runs away before I have the chance to throw another. Damn. And she got my knife!

As the remaining cannons sound and the Cornucopia clears of live tributes, we – me, Cato, Marvel, Glimmer and the girl from 4 – examine the insides. Cato immediately reaches for a long, brutal-looking sword, Glimmer the bow she can't shoot with, 4 a simple blade, Marvel a sharp spear, and I, I slot all of the knives I can find into the slots my jacket was designed to carry.

As none of us really paid attention to finding food, we declare to set camp by the Cornucopia, where food is always available. Water isn't a problem either; a lake is clearly visible from where we sit. Just as I settle down for sleep, I notice something grey floating above the treetop canopy. Smoke. And where there's smoke, there's fire.


	4. Chapter 4

As we traipse towards the sign of the fire, lead only by the smell of smoke, we collect the boy from 12, Peeta, after a large debate over whether to kill him or not. Cato argues that he's our only hope of finding that Katniss girl – I guess he's still annoyed at her 11 in training. That I can relate to.

We travel through the woods until a little bit furthur and see flames flickering in the distance, getting closer and closer. We don't even bother being quiet; chances are they'll be too cold to be listening. We reach a clearing in the bushes and see a terrified girl with her mouth open in a scream. A mixture of knives, misshot arrows and spears hit her before she can retaliate. The audience will love this. My first team kill.

We wave our torches around for a bit because her cannon hasn't sounded. Surely we're far away enough for the body to be collected? Peeta surprises us all by yelling at us about wasting time. He goes back to finish her off. Wow. Guess he's tougher than I thought. The others must be thinking the same thing because Glimmer raises an eyebrow at Cato but he's only looking at me. I smile and shrug at the same time. Glimmer moves closer to him to attract his attention with another flirt, but I scratch my neck with my left hand, casually revealing Cato's ring. The corner of his mouth twitches and, before she can say anything, he brushes her off and we move forward. She looks confused for a moment, but not hurt – I bet her flirts have never been rejected before – but she regains her composure and moves on with the rest of us. Marvel seems pretty happy about this. I wink at him. I think I would be friends with him if we weren't here.

I don't think he'll guess about the significance of the ring; he might not have even seen it, but he knows that something I did triggered something inside of Cato, which stopped Glimmer. So I'm not the only one with a little crush-jealousy in here.

It makes me want to laugh when I think of what Katniss would think if she saw Peeta with us now. _Pathetic …_ but then I think of my reaction to seeing Cato's betrayal to me, if that's what you should call it, and I'm suddenly a lot more sympathetic. I banish that thought from my mind. I am a built _warrior_, I do not feel – I _cannot_ feel. I am immune to sympathy and love and hurt; only fighting instinct is inside of me. Yes, that's right. Survival is key.

That night we return to the Cornucopia. Everyone else drifts off to sleep more or less straight away, but I can't. I can't get used to the arena; I'm not built for wilderness. Back in 1, during my preparation training, I was just taught to kill. Nothing on fires or foraging was even thought of there. Just violence. Not that I can complain – people that learn like me have a better chance of winning. And right now, that's all I should be concerned about.

After a while of sitting and throwing knives into the grass occasionally, a small voice perks up. "You can't sleep either?" Cato.

I look at him questioningly. "No."

He pauses. "That a new knife?"

"Yeah. Found it in the pile."

"Mm." I just sit silently for a moment, before asking the question that has plagued my mind since we got here: "Why'd you do it?"

"Do what?" he asks, a little too innocently perhaps. But I think we both know what I'm talking about.

I waggle my ring hand about a bit and he laughs. "S'like I said. Want to have accomplished something before I leave." _Leave what?_ I think. Could he mean the Games, as a victor? Or even … life?

I flick my hand through the air. "Volunteering is a big enough accomplishment in itself, Cato."

"S'pose. But it doesn't have a … _personal _value," he replies delicately.

I wrinkle my nose. "Then … why me? There's plenty of pretty girls back home, and, let's be honest, I'm not exactly in their crowd. I mean, look at me. I'm tiny." Which is true. Although perfectly well fed and nourished, being born premature has had a negative effect on me. I am naturally petite, though I could use this to my advantage – I can easily dodge attacks – but that wasn't what we were taught in training. Freeze, flight, or fight? And dodging in District 1 is almost like laying down in defeat.

"You're just ... sweet. And you can fight," he adds with a vicious glint in his eye. "I just don't want to die without leaving my mark. And knowing that, somewhere far away, someone actually loves me."

I stare at him. I have never been spoken to in this way before; the people from 1 are hardly feeling. Suddenly, he shrugs and regains his usual, cold-blooded temperament. "All tactical stuff, of course," he grunts with a dark laugh. "Best of both worlds then, right?"

Before I can say something in return, he turns back over. I am just left thinking: why didn't I say something? Something emotional. But then I remember. It's probably all just lies for the camera. The only reason he wouldn't have proposed to Glimmer instead is because he wants our district to be honoured, not hers. "Of course," I agree in a disheartened whisper, "just tactics."


	5. Chapter 5

Cato and I do not talk of our nighttime conversation the next morning, which I'm kind of glad about; I don't want the others (especially Glimmer) to notice that I'm feeling funny. Dejection and regret are emotions that I am not accustomed to.

We abandon our Cornucopian home and wander about the forest, searching for more (soon-to-be-dead) tributes. Cato has almost completely avoided me – the embarrassment is clear enough for the both of us – so I start talking to Marvel. Abruptly into the conversation, he whispers with a grin: "So you like Cato."

Lucky I have been trained my whole life not to blush, because that was a definitely reddening situation. "What?!" I whisper loudly.

He chuckles, apparently happy with my discomfort. "Well, it's _obvious_, really."

"Is it, now?" I say harshly, but then think of something better. I lean in closely and whisper in a tempting voice: "So you like Glimmer."

He gasps and I burst out laughing at his astonished face. "Well, it's _obvious_, really," I mimic.

His face contorts into a pleading but furious expression. "You won't tell the others!"

I laugh again, giving a superiorly questioning look from Glimmer and a stern stare from Cato. Wait, is that … jealousy? "'Course not," I insist. "You too, on that subject." I threaten him mockingly with one of my smaller, dainty knives.

He raises an eyebrow teasingly and marches up to Cato, practically yelling, "Hey!" in an overly friendly voice.

Since we're all feeling the heat quite well – I think I even smell smoke – we decide to walk down to the lake. I start chatting to the girl from 4, who I learn is called Mackerel ("Mackie for short," she tells me). She's surprisingly nice, but there's something about her I can't trust. Call it instinctive.

We are almost at the edge of the lake when Marvel suddenly shouts in excitement, "Look! She's over there!" My gaze follows to where he points and then I see her. District 12, submerged in water, panic flooding her eyes. I can almost feel my blood boiling. It's time to get my knife back.


	6. Chapter 6

We run towards Katniss, who is limping slightly – all the better for us, then! – in a flurry of laughter and excitement. My heart pounds with anticipation and a feeling that wants to see blood, lots of blood. Katniss' blood. I almost stop myself in mid run through the stream with guilt. I can't ever remember thinking this sickly. But then I remember. I don't enjoy killing, I do it for survival. Plus the audience loves a good show. There. All better. My guilt is lost and forgotten and the pursuit continues.

Glimmer flirtatiously teases Cato by yelling in giggles: "Mine!" It doesn't annoy me now. I've got a preoccupation now, and by the looks of it, so has Marvel. Death overcomes jealousy in the arena.

Katniss, the little rat, scurries up the tree at a remarkable pace considering her leg – which I can see is a red, bloody mess from here. "Go on, Cato!" I yell, surprising myself. "Go kill her, Cato!" He grins menacingly and clambers up. After so long, I notice him struggling. His face is redder than usual and the tree is wobbling. It's even worse for him trying to climb with his heavy sword clasped firmly in his belt. Katniss climbs even more, showing her fear. Cato slows down even more, so Glimmer yells: "Come on, Cato! Kill her!" And he does try, but he's too heavy. Another step further and he falls, arms flailing around, to the leafy ground. He gets up with a strong growl.

"Ugh," says Glimmer in moody desperation. This time she tries to climb, which is humorous to watch – she obviously isn't adept enough to muster tree heights. After so much climbing so senses the branches beginning to crack – they'd started earlier, but it's not like I was going to ever tell her – and stops. She sighs in frustration and holds the bow she can't shoot with an arrow ready. She shoots awfully, and it pathetically misses. I hide a laugh. She tries again and it lands near 12. Katniss grabs it and waves it about in a taunt.

We gather round to form a plan. "Cato, _you_ shoot," I say with a sigh and Glimmer narrows her emerald eyes at me.

"No point," he growls. "I know what weapon I'm using, it's just getting it there that's the problem."

"I could try climbing," suggests Mackie, but Cato waves her away.

"Please," he says coldly. "If Glimmer can't do it, then there's no way you can." Mackie looks hurt and glances at her figure before staring plainly at her feet with a red face. That was a bit harsh. Plus, Glimmers skinny, all right, but she's got curves to her. Mackie is skinny but without the curves. She must be about fourteen. Glimmer smiles confidently.

"I'll try the spear," declares Marvel, but Cato says "No" firmly and an argument ensues. Peeta breaks the silence and astounds us all. "Let's just leave her there. It's not like she can actually go anyplace," he says sharply. "We'll deal with her in the morning."

Glimmer raises her eyebrows at Cato again. He acknowledges her this time, and shrugs. "Right," he agrees.

We lay down on the terrain surrounding the tree and sleep. First of all I throw knives for a while, expecting to hear Cato's voice again. I do eventually, but it's laughing with Glimmer from inside a bush. They're probably kissing. I lay down in a huff, knife clasped protectively in my left hand, and try to sleep.

A while later, eyes closed but still awake, I hear someone approach. I'm about to turn round and attack when Cato's voice breaks the silence. "Clove?" But I'm too mad to reply, so I keep my eyes firmly shut. He comes closer and kneels in front of me, so near that I can feel his breath on my face. "Night," he says, and kisses my forehead.

He stays there for a few seconds. "Cato?" calls Glimmer flirtatiously. "What are you doing?"

He pretends to search for something. "Saw a lizard," he lies, and she laughs teasingly. I open my eyes and see him go back to where she lays near the tree and lay down. She leans in and they kiss for what seems like minutes. He has his arm around her and they fall asleep like that. I glare and finally fall asleep wishing that it was me in his arms.


End file.
